Oops
by 24Chocoholic24
Summary: It's just another typical day at PPTH, until Cameron shows up in the ER... on a gurney. Chameron; sort of AU... set after finale, but House is still seemingly okay.


June 16, 2009

"**Oops"**

The morning had been a normal one at the hospital. House was stuck on a case, and had called Chase and Cameron into his office to assist his team in arriving at a diagnosis. Cameron was there in a minute, but Chase was not so eager to help. While he worked on a hernia repair, his teammates bantered in House's office. Unbeknownst to Chase, though, Cameron was not among them at the time. House had sent her out to search the patient's home before she had even entered his office; and this particular patient lived in a very bad neighborhood.

When Chase was cleaned up from the hernia surgery, he reported to the nurses' station for his next assignment. As he approached, though, a great hubbub arose at the end of the hallway, drawing all unoccupied staff and a couple of patients' families. At first, Chase was just curious, but as the patient was wheeled into view, his heart all but stopped. The hubbub was suddenly justified. The patient was, in fact, the head of the ER: Dr. Allison Cameron, Dr. Chase's wife.

Chase stood frozen as he took in her mangled form. The left side of her body was soaked with blood, a sharp contrast to her pale face. Her eyes were wide with fear, her chest moving up and down unpredictably with her erratic breathing. She gasped, then whimpered in pain. Her face was damp with tears. Her eyes were darting about the room, and she had to turn her head to catch sight of him. A second sharp intake of air enabled her to cry out his name and extend her hand as he rushed over in response. He jogged alongside the gurney, holding Cameron's hand in one of his; with the other, he stroked her hair, then her cheek. "You're going to be all right, Allie. You'll be fine." She had to be. He would not have it any other way.

"I hope so," she gasped as another tear slipped down her cheek. Chase brought the back of her hand to his mouth and kissed it gently, then released her to the surgical team assigned to her. He watched through the window as the team set up and prepped his wife for emergency surgery. When she finally relaxed under the effect of the anesthetics and slipped into unconsciousness, Chase made his way to the observation deck.

For over two hours, the surgeon anxiously tracked his colleagues' progress. The surgery went smoothly, and was done sooner than Chase had imagined it would be. As the team began to wrap up, though, the alarm on the heart monitor went off. As he looked up from Cameron's face, Chase was horrified to find a perfectly flat line where the spikes of her heartbeat used to be. His heart skipped a beat, and his jaw froze as he stepped toward the window. Silently, he prayed a frantic prayer, his eyes darting between the now-hurried scene of defibrillation and the unforgiving heart monitor. After what seemed to Chase like hours of shocking Cameron's heart, the team turned to stimulants. Lost in his desperate hopes, Chase did not notice when one of the surgeons injected the epinephrine, but he could not miss the medicine's effects. Suddenly, the incessant noise of the alarm ceased and the flat line gave way to the usual pattern of a normal heartbeat. The team rushed to finish the surgery, and Chase was finally able to look away from the scene for a moment. With his back to the window, he realized that he had been holding his breath. As the adrenaline began to fade and his mind began to work again, Chase sent up a second silent prayer, this one of gratitude and relief. He stood there for a moment, pulling himself back together, then headed down to the recovery room to wait for his wife.

The attending nurse was waking Cameron up and explaining to her the results of – and the complications during - the surgery. When Chase walked up, Cameron turned her attention to him. "Are you okay?" The nurse, sensing that she had done all he could, turned and left the couple alone. Cameron reached up and cupped Chase's cheek in her hand.

Chase almost smiled at the irony. Sighing, he reached up and took Cameron's hand from his face and held it in both of his as he took a seat next to her bed. "You coded twenty minutes ago… almost _died_… and you're worried about _me?_"

This time, it was Cameron who sighed. "Did… anybody tell you… what happened?"

Chase's expression was a mix of curiosity and confusion. "Multiple gunshot wounds to the left abdomen and arm…"

"I mean –"

"Oops." Chase and Cameron looked up and started at the sight of a pitiless Dr. House.

Chase's confusion increased. "Oops?"

Ignoring him, House addressed Cameron directly. "Did you find anything?"

Cameron snorted in disbelief. "I might've, if I'd made it into the house."

"You sent her out to search your patient's home for you?" Chase was standing now, his face reddening slightly. "She's not even on your team anymore! She quit, remember?"

House shot the hot-headed surgeon an admonishing glare. "My team was busy. Cameron wanted to help."

"What were you thinking, sending her out alone to the slums?"

"I was thinking, 'S***, our patient is dying for no apparent reason. The cause must be environmental. Somebody needs to search the home, and my team is busy. But Cameron seems really into this case; perhaps she'd be willing to do it.'"

Chase just snorted.

"Y'know," House added, exaggerating the inflections in his voice, "if you had answered my call for help this morning, you could've gone with her and prevented this from happening…"

The pink in Chase's face turned scarlet, then paled as he sat back down under the burden of new guilt.

House stared at Chase for a moment, considering the reaction his words had elicited, then turned back to Cameron. "So did you spot anything notable outside of his house?"

"Yes, I spotted his neighbor running at me with a gun as I got out of my car."

"See anything else?"

"Yeah." Her demeanor grew solemn. "I see that you are beyond hope, and that I can do a lot more good in the ER than I can dragging you and your team along." She paused, choosing her words carefully. "I quit."

"I believe you took care of that a while back, as Chase just pointed out." Despite his tone, there was a hint of disappointment in House's eyes.

Cameron closed her eyes briefly, then opened them to meet House's. "I'm not going to help you anymore, House. I have a job… and… a life… and I don't have time to bail you out anymore. You're on your own now." There was silence, during which House's facial expression was never fixed and Chase regained his emotional stability and began to wonder about House's. At length, House settled on a look of determination, staring decidedly at the floor between Chase and Cameron. "Good luck," Cameron offered, almost gently. House simply grunted and silently took his leave. The other two watched him leave, then Chase turned to Cameron. "I'm sorry."

"Chase –"

"House is right. If I had answered his call for help—"

"Then we'd _both_ be in here recovering from emergency surgery." Chase, realizing the truth of her words, relaxed considerably, smiling a bit at Cameron's wisdom. "In fact," she added, "I'm glad you didn't come."

Her husband was not sure whether or not to take offense at this. "Why's that?"

"This way, I have somebody to drive me home and take care of me when they decide to discharge me," she smiled.

Chase smiled back, and nodded his agreement. "Speaking of recovery, you need your rest. Do me a favor and try to sleep a while. I'll be back to check on you in a bit." He stood to leave, and was about to head out when he noticed the look of innocent disappointment on Cameron's face as she nodded reluctantly. Frowning, he turned back to her. "What's wrong?"

Cameron blushed, smiling sheepishly. "I was… kind of hoping… that I could… fall asleep… in your arms?"

Chase just stood there for a moment, his frown evolving into a loving grin. Cameron's smile grew with his, melting his heart as it did. Without a second thought, he pulled off his scrubs and tossed them onto the chair he had recently occupied. He climbed into the awkward little bed and took Cameron into his arms, holding her as close as he could without disturbing her IV's. "I was hoping so, too," he admitted after softly kissing her hair. "I love you, Allie."

"I love you too," Cameron whispered. Convinced that she had found her heaven-on-earth, she surrendered to the drugs and fell asleep in the arms of her favorite angel.


End file.
